tearose Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 DH and I have been planning a library since we moved into our house three years ago--we finished our basement and set aside a big room as a library. Since we moved, all our books have been stacked on the floor (sorted roughly by subject and genre, but still a huge pain to find anything). We looked into getting bookcases custom-built, but the prices were astronomical :eek: . We finally just decided to get Billy bookcases from Ikea--a lot cheaper, and I won't have a heart attack if my kids scratch or ding something. We're filling three walls with bookcases going from floor to ceiling (using two height extenders on each bookcase). We also decided to put glass doors on the bookcases to make the room look a little more formal (and keep the dust off the books). I am SO EXCITED to finally have enough storage for my books (and room to buy more books :) ). I figured that this board is probably the only place where people would share my excitement over this kind of thing! ETA: in-progress pictures found in posts 30, 48, and 61 :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Oh, I have a smile on my face just thinking about all the bookcases. Happy sorting and classifying! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 I'm excited for you, too! Show us pictures if you can! We have a library and it's my favorite room. It's got an old lumpy couch and throws and you sit there and read. Heaven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cafdog Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 So jealous. Want. A. Library. :drool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowing Brook Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 :svengo: Wow that's alot of bookcases!! Although I am happy for you :hurray: :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Holy cow! We just did ours and have four Billy's plus an Expedit unit; they take up the whole room. I also painted the room teal. It is my "it makes me smile" room. I would love to see a picture of 16 when you are done - Heaven!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baseball mom Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedmom4 Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 How exciting!!!!!! Elise in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 :party: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 billys are great. You will love it. one warning - make sure you don't have any oversized books as you might not be able to close the doors. You could just have a section for oversized books. I love my billys. I have a wall as an entertainment unit in my family room. (I have two billy-bridges stacked so they are the same height as my billys with extensions. the tv is wall mounted, but I did a besta for components becasue I needed the depth.) I was going to do split solid/glass doors until I noticed I had too many kids books that extended past the shelves. cry. I did half solid instead with glass doors on the besta (the remotes work through it - and I have enough room in there for my oversized math manipulatives). I have my school stuff in there, so I can still hide lots behind the doors. I'm trying to decide if I should get a trofast to go with dudelings craft table that is in a corner of the room. I also did a wall-mount white board at his height. I also have a wall in my basement with six billys. (and an old two-piece bookcase that is the same size as three billys). it's books and exercise equpiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbotoast Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 :drool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 jealous! hope we can do it soon, too, though. If my daughter doesnt come back, we'll probably move the youngest in to her room and make his room dh's office - and it'll get lots of book shelves! plus if i could manage to clean out the upstairs hallway, we could put some there too. we have boxes and boxes in the attic and the homeschool books keep pushing everything else off the shelves we have in the dining room ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linguistmama Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Woohoo!!!!! I would love to see pictures too if you want to share. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFM Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 I would love to do that eventually, how exciting! :) Libraries are my favorite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbanSue Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 So fun! We have a library in progress. I've built all the bookcases myself and I add a new one as needed. I was just today telling dh that I should probably do the next one as soon as the weather is nice enough to bring out the power tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tearose Posted January 26, 2013 Author Share Posted January 26, 2013 billys are great. You will love it. one warning - make sure you don't have any oversized books as you might not be able to close the doors. You could just have a section for oversized books. I love my billys. I have a wall as an entertainment unit in my family room. (I have two billy-bridges stacked so they are the same height as my billys with extensions. the tv is wall mounted, but I did a besta for components becasue I needed the depth.) I was going to do split solid/glass doors until I noticed I had too many kids books that extended past the shelves. cry. I did half solid instead with glass doors on the besta (the remotes work through it - and I have enough room in there for my oversized math manipulatives). I have my school stuff in there, so I can still hide lots behind the doors. I'm trying to decide if I should get a trofast to go with dudelings craft table that is in a corner of the room. I also did a wall-mount white board at his height. I also have a wall in my basement with six billys. (and an old two-piece bookcase that is the same size as three billys). it's books and exercise equpiment. We got the deeper Billys for the longer back wall because we have a lot of LPs (which are just slightly too big for the standard size), so we're hoping that those bookcases will be deep enough for the oversized books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Ohhhhh....That sounds wonderful! Enjoy your new and improved library. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Researcher Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 How exciting! I would love to see pics when your room is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 I think, just from your post title- that you win! :) post some pics when you are done so we can drool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 That sounds so exciting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 :drool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker25 Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 How exciting! Happy for you! Thank you for sharing, we really do get this. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 I agree. Pics or it didn't happen! I just put Billies in my DR last fall. I was ridiculously impressed that there is a cut-out for the baseboard so they fit flush to the wall. I put fabric on the back piece before I slid it in! We bought standard Billies, but I did notice that they now make a deeper version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyontheFarm Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Pictures, before, during and after.... maybe even hourly. LOL :drool5: congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 I just googled "Ikea Billy Bookcases" and am now quite inspired and jealous. We live FAR from an IKEA, but I'm hoping you'll share pictures so we can vicariously visit your new library! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 I'm celebrating with you. We are having a wall of built-in's put in today, after a wait of nearly a year. I can't wait to organize all the stacks that have been cluttering up my living room! Now does anyone have ideas for shelf labels? And I agree, please post pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 One suggestion is to organize the history books in chronological order, so it's easy to teach through the WTM cycle. Another option is to organize them by color. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoseInABook Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Ooh, I'm drooling at the idea. Post pictures for those of us who are still lusting after libraries but don't have enough space for an actual one. Haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tearose Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 I just googled "Ikea Billy Bookcases" and am now quite inspired and jealous. We live FAR from an IKEA, but I'm hoping you'll share pictures so we can vicariously visit your new library! Beth, Ikea delivers! Shipping isn't cheap, but it seems to be a flat rate (DH tried with different quantities). We live 2.5 hours from the nearest Ikea, but my in-laws live near there, so we went to the store first. They didn't have much in stock in the color we wanted, though (dark brown), and they don't let you hold stuff once it's in stock. After we figured out how many trips we'd have to make and how much that would cost in gas (and our time!), it made more sense just to pay to have it delivered to our house. Not to mention that there was a chance it wouldn't be in stock once we got to the store. It's going to take several weeks, probably, to get it done, but I'll go downstairs and take a picture of it in progress after DC are in bed tonight. When we finished the basement, DH had the electrician leave some extra length in the outlet wires so that he could pull them out and put outlets at the base of the bookcases. Right now he's complaining that they left the extra length but stapled it to the wall, so he's having to cut out wallboard to take out the staples. Also, Home Depot only had the brown outlet plates in extra large, so now we have to order the standard size from Lowe's online (nearest one is in Iowa). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tearose Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Here are a few in-progress photos: A few of the doors on. there will be two extenders on top, so it will go almost to the ceiling. And, no, this old couch will not be staying in the finished room :) The long back wall with the six deeper shelves, also minus extenders. You can see the outlets at the base with the temporary ugly white covers. The other short wall. This wall will have two regular-sized and one half-sized bookcase. You can see the corner unit in progress on the floor. This is what most of my basement looks like right now with books stacked everywhere. Guest bedroom and hallway are even worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyontheFarm Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 This is going to look AMAZING!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOver Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Goodness, I need more bookcases. :coolgleamA: Wooohooo Happy for you and jealous at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralloyd Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Awesome! We love our Billys too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 That is going to be sooo lovely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Drooling again! :drool: I'm happy to know they make deeper billys, that info is new to me. We hope to build a house someday, I so want a library like yours!!! You must post more pics when you've got the shelves all in and when they are filled! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Beautiful! I love how the bookcases look with your wood flooring. Can't wait to see pics when it's all finished! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 :iagree: Can't wait to see how it finishes up. Love the wood flooring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deannajo Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Oh wow! That looks amazing! I can't wait to see the "after" pictures....since I'm drooling so much over the "during" pictures and all :drool5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Wow! A dream come true! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Wow! They are beautiful! Our billy bookcasese are white. We love them. Yours look a lot more elegant. Love the color and love it with your walls. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Wow! That is exciting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grover Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 drooooool.. that looks fantastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Mousie Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Will you come over and do my house next? I especially love the outlets - I never would have thought of that! What about heat? That's my other problem - blocking the heat vents with bookcases. We really do need another 2-3 bookcases. Well ... "need" is probably too strong, but ... I just don't want to part with any more of my beloved books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tearose Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Will you come over and do my house next? I especially love the outlets - I never would have thought of that! What about heat? That's my other problem - blocking the heat vents with bookcases. Our heating vents are on the fourth wall (opposite the long wall and where the door to the room is), where we don't have bookcases. When we looked into having it custom-done, one of the companies we looked at made up a plan that had a small desk built into to wall area with the vent. There was an open area for working and then shelves over that. Another place put in vented doors where we'd need the heat to come through (in that plan, the lower shelves on that wall would have doors). So there are ways to do it, but it would probably take a little more work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Mousie Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Thanks. Although you are showing me that I should actually *plan* before I purchase. That means it will never happen. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linguistmama Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Beautiful!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tearose Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 New round of pictures! All the bookcases are in, along with the glass doors. DH added the knobs to the door because Ikea only offers a magnetic closure that is frankly quite cheap. We just picked out the knobs from Home Depot. He is still working on bolting the bookcases to each other and to the wall. Extensions going almost to the ceiling (and their glass doors) will be next! (Also, I miscounted initially--it's 15 bookcases, not 16 :) ) The couch is mostly blocking it, but if you look really closely, you'll see that DH had to raise the corner bookcase and the one to its left a little because he discovered that our floor is slightly uneven. When I'm in the room, I can see it because I know where to look for it--but I don't think it's noticeable at first glance. Long wall. You can see the reflection of the door on the opposite wall. This is the only wall where it didn't fit perfectly, but I think we can live with the little gap on the far right :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mnemosyne Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 That is one beautiful room. It's going to look great once the books have moved in!! I've always dreamed of having a library. One with a wood fireplace and some nice cushy couches in a corner. I don't think I'd ever leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acorn Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Wow that is gorgeous. Please keep adding pics as the books move in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 :drool5: Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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